Friday, 27 June 2014

Bacary Sagna has hit back at suggestions that he joined Manchester City this summer only for the money.

The France right-back will officially join the Premier League champions when his Arsenal contract expires on 30 June.

Sagna has been at Arsenal since 2007 and the club were desperate to keep him, offering him a new contract on improved terms. Yet they could not compete with City’s package, understood to be a three-year deal on £120,000 a week, leading to suggestions that the 31-year-old had only signed outof greed.

“I’m going to clear everything up because I keep reading that I did it for money and I’m greedy,” Sagna said on Wednesday following France’s 0-0 World Cup draw with Ecuador which confirmed their place in the last 16 as Group E winners.

“What I want to say is I stayed with Arsenal with the same contract since 2008 and I never asked for more money. For people who think it’s for money, it’s not. I just wanted to change. I needed a boost in my career and I think it was about time.”

Arsenal’s FA Cup success last month was Sagna’s first trophy at the club and the defender admits he found it tough to focus on the Wembley final given his contract situation.

“It was not an easy time because we were still involved in the FA Cup and it was hard to stay focused,” he added. “I stayed focused on my team because I have a lot of respect for Arsenal. I believe Arsenal is a great team. I believe we have great quality and we won a trophy finally. It’s not even about that, because Arsenal have a quality.

“It’s just that, personally, I wanted a boost. I needed to start from the bottom again. It is an exciting time for my career because I’m 31.”

Sagna will start life at the Etihad as second-choice right-back behind Pablo Zabaleta, yet he is relishing the competition.

He added:

“I know they have a very good right-back inZabaleta and I will have to fight to find some time on the pitch but I think we have a good team with City and we can do great.”